GROUND BREAKING Training centre for teaching, learning, assessment and research
In October 2020, the University of Johannesburg broke ground for a new Rescue Simulation Centre on their Doornfontein Campus. The centre has been designed to cater for teaching, learning, assessment and research of a multitude of specialised rescue disciplines.
The four-storey structure will include a five-metre-deep pool for aquatic rescue and survival training, helicopter underwater egress/escape training (“HUET”), and dive rescue.
Fifteen metres above the pool, a helicopter fuselage suspended on a gantry crane will allow for both “wet” and “dry” hoist training and can be adapted to provide a platform for safety training around rotor-wing aircraft and helicopter-based emergency care.
Within the basement of the structure, an urban search and rescue area will be created with space for configurable confined space tunnel systems, sacrificial concrete slabs, technical search props, shoring jigs and heavy lifting props.
The confined space tunnels will be linked from the basement to the upper 384m2 open area. This will provide an area for the teaching of high angle rescue, hazardous materials, motor vehicle rescue and trench rescue.
Disaster and mass casualty preparedness, innovation and training will also be catered for in this centre. This would include tracking of biohazardous substances through GloGerm™ technology from field based care into the, already established, Clinical Simulation Laboratory. This would be especially pertinent for training and research during the current COVID-19 crisis.
The entire simulation centre can be made dark, with wind and rain simulators that aim to increase the fidelity of the rescue and patient simulations. There will be two dedicated lecture venues, three offices and ablution facilities with showers and toilets for the centre.
The Department of Emergency Medical Care expects the project to completed by the end of 2021.
